New Delhi, June 21: Tom Alter was born on June 22, 1950, in Mussoorie. His grandparents, Emmet and Martha Alter, arrived in India from Ohio, USA, as Christian missionaries in November 1916. The partition of 1947 divided the family; while his grandparents remained in Lahore, Pakistan, Tom’s parents moved to Rajpur near Mussoorie.
His passion for acting was ignited by the film ‘Aradhana,’ leading him to the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, where he graduated with a gold medal in acting in 1974. The film industry in Mumbai attempted to typecast him as a ‘foreign villain’ or ‘British officer’ due to his fair complexion. However, Tom Alter infused these roles with an extraordinary human dignity through his dialogue delivery and command of Hindi and Urdu.
In Satyajit Ray’s masterpiece ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ (1977), he portrayed Captain Weston, an English officer who loved the culture and poetry of Awadh. His historical roles in ‘Kranti’ (1981) and ‘Gandhi’ (1982) left an indelible mark. He also played the fearsome underworld don Musa in ‘Parinda’ (1989) and a quintessential Indian villager, Karam Singh, in ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’ (1985).
In 1977, he co-founded the ‘Motley’ theatre group with Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gilani. His silent portrayal of ‘Lucky’ in the play ‘Waiting for Godot,’ staged at Prithvi Theatre on July 29, 1979, remains a milestone in Indian theatre.
Tom Alter was equally passionate about sports. Following India’s historic World Cup victory in 1983, he played in an exhibition match in the USA for the ‘Indian Eleven’ led by the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, even taking a wicket.
As a sports journalist, Tom Alter achieved a unique distinction. On January 19, 1989, at the CCI nets in Mumbai, he conducted the first television interview of a shy, curly-haired boy who was just 15 years old—none other than the future cricketing legend Sachin Tendulkar.
During television’s golden era, Tom Alter became a household name. He influenced generations through his roles as Charles Spencer in ‘Jabaan Sambhal Ke,’ the menacing Keshav Kalshi in ‘Junoon,’ and the beloved ‘Mahaguru’ in the children’s series ‘Shaktimaan.’
In 2016, Tom was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive skin cancer (squamous cell carcinoma). Despite being in the fourth stage of cancer, he staged his play ‘Sons of Babar’ in March 2017. On September 29, 2017, this great artist bid farewell to the world.
Leave a Comment